Page 1641 - Dungeons & Ponies, Part 16
20th Jan 2022, 6:00 AM in Intermission 15

Author: GreatDinn

Guest Author’s Note: “Distance is weird in tabletop RPGs. Whether you’re using a tileset, or playing in the theatre of the mind, not everyone processes the dimensions of a room or layout very well. It’s one of the reasons that sizes function so strangely when you get into the nittier, grittier parts of mechanical function (especially if you’re trying to make a player character outside of the typical size.)

All of this distance talk gets even worse when you have to consider other forms of movement. Walking up walls? Swimming? Flying? And of course, jumping! Jumping is weird! And it kind of makes sense, because how often do you jump in real life? The rules in 5e have it based on raw Strength, 4e had it as an Athletics check, 3e had a Jump skill (with results partially dependent on height, and proficiency with Jumping), and 2e had it based on level of all things (with special rules for pole vaulting)!

All of this translates to a skill that I don’t think gets used very often, and a spell that probably gets used less. But those times when you need it…oh boy, do you need it.

(The funniest thing to me is that the spell Jump, when applied to a character with a strength of 10 in 5e, translates to someone who can just barely eek out a jump of 30 feet. The current long jump world record is 8.95 meters, or 29.36352 feet, set in 1991 by Mike Powell. It takes actual wizard powers to match our real world record holder.)”

Rainbow Dash: Here goes nothing, I guess.
roll
Rainbow Dash: Ugh. 10.
Fluttershy: Um, can I support Dash with a cheer? “You can do it, Presto!”
DM: …thanks to the power of friendship, you manage to make it up to the top.
Rainbow Dash: Thank Celestia.
Uni: I will patiently await your return, friends! From the nice, safe ground.
DM: At the front of the castle, you find a closed drawbridge.
Merlin: Apologies, but I’m a bit occupied at the moment, so you’ll have to open it yourselves.
Twilight Sparkle: A drawbridge implies a moat, right?
DM: Yes, but in this case, it’s less “pit of water” and more “open sky.”
Pinkie Pie: How wide is the moat, anyway?
DM: It’s these blue squares here.
Rainbow Dash: …I should build a moat.
Pinkie Pie: That’s not very far! I bet I could jump it with my staff!
DM: You know each of these squares is 5 feet, right? It’d be like you trying to jump this whole table.
Pinkie Pie: Ooh! I bet I could! Lemme just-
DM, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity: Pinkie Pie, no!
Pinkie Pie: What? I was just gonna roll. Woo! 25!
DM: O-oh. Okay. Uh, sure, you make it to the other side.
Pinkie Pie: Now let’s make some room for me to try the real jump!
Twilight Sparkle: PINKIE.